1. Field of The Invention
The present invention relates generally to chandeliers and, more particularly, to sculpted ornamental arrangements for chandeliers and other lighting fixtures.
2. Related Art
A chandelier is typically formed of a framework from which a plurality of glass or crystal ornaments are suspended to form an overall ornamental appearance of the chandelier. The glass ornaments are typically attached to a metal wire having a hook at one end that passes loosely through a hole in the crystal and a hook at the other end that passes through a hole in the chandelier framework. An exemplary conventional chandelier framework having several ornamental strings hanging from the framework is shown in FIG. 1 (prior art). The conventional chandelier framework 100 includes a central post 102 carrying at its base lighting elements 104. Extending outwardly from the central post 102 is a plurality of spokes 106 which support rings 108. The rings 108, in turn, support a plurality of ornaments 110. The ornaments 110 are loosely attached to hooks 112 which are looped through openings 114 in the rings 108. Although numerous chandelier designs have been developed with these hanging ornamental strings, these designs are limited in that only a single orientation of the ornamental strings is possible. In addition, this orientation is determined solely by ordinary gravitational forces.
A very early improvement to ornamental chandelier design was the creation of strings of crystal ornaments having a plurality of crystal ornaments held together end-to-end by a series of clips or "bow ties." These strings of crystal ornaments were also suspended from the chandelier framework. Although numerous chandelier designs were made possible by this conventional arrangement, these designs were subject to the same drawback as that noted above: the orientation of the ornamental strings were determined solely by gravitational forces.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,325 to Bayer et al., assigned to the assignee of the present invention, represents an important advance in the art of chandelier design. This patent teaches an arrangement whereby the face of an individual crystal may be positioned at virtually any angle. In this arrangement, the chandelier hook is not fitted loosely through a hole in the crystal ornament, but instead is glued to the ornament. As a result, the face of the crystal ornament is fixed relative to the orientation of the shaft of the hook. A particular hook/frame engagement mechanism is also provided whereby the hook shaft may be positioned, for example, horizontally with respect to the chandelier frame, rather than simply being suspended vertically as in prior conventional designs. An example of this arrangement is shown in FIG. 2 (prior art), wherein a ring 202 is shown with a crystal ornament 204 attached to the ring 202 by a rigid hook 206. The rigid hook 206 is glued in a bore (not shown) in the crystal ornament 204, and has a fixed angular relationship to the crystal ornament 204. The rigid hook 206 engages openings 208A, 208B in the ring 202, whereby the rigid hook 206 is held fixed with respect to the ring 202 and extends radially outward in a horizontal direction therefrom. Although the ability to suspend the face of a crystal at a particular angle with respect to the chandelier frame provides the ability to create "sculpted" chandelier designs having a shape unaffected by gravity, there are a number of drawbacks to such arrangements. These include, for example, the difficulty and cost of manufacturing multiple components and the limited arrangements available due to the shape and size of the rigid hooks 206.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,460 to Schonbek, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, represents another important advance to the art of chandelier designs. This patent teaches the use of spring tensioned strings of ornaments whereby the ornamental strings are held in a fixed, predetermined pattern against gravitational forces. In this design, individual crystal ornaments are loosely attached to one another by clips or bow ties, each having a pair of hooks. One hook of each pair passes loosely through an opening in adjacent crystal ornaments. Either end of the string of crystals is then attached to a rigid frame member of the chandelier. A spring is attached to the resulting string at any number of locations, tensioning the crystal ornament string into a predetermined pattern. An example of such an arrangement is shown in FIG. 3 (prior art), wherein a chandelier having a central post 302 with a plurality of spokes 304 extending from the central post 302 is shown. Attached to the spokes are rings 306 for supporting ornaments 308. The ornaments 308 are arranged as a string of ornaments with adjacent ends of the ornaments held together by hooks 310A. One end of the string of ornaments is fixed to the lower ring by a terminal hook 310B. The other end of the string of ornaments is attached to the upper ring 306 by a spring 312. The spring 312 tensions the string of ornaments to hold it in a predetermined pattern which opposes the forces of gravity. Although this approach provides for the creation of sculpted designs far beyond those previously available, the manufacture of such a chandelier is cumbersome in that crystal ornaments need to be attached to each other via the bow ties and then secured to the chandelier frame with the springs. In addition, this design is time consuming and expensive to manufacture and also time consuming to assemble. Furthermore, the process of repair and cleaning is difficult, particularly if it is necessary to access the internal region of the bowl formed by the crystals.